


Time

by Val_Creative



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Multi, Romantic Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 14:32:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His memory faded…the green of last summer's grass…the exact smell of the sunrise…faces that were lost faded.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time

.

 

 

 

_"They're beautiful, aren't they?" When he glanced back around at her, her lithe arm wrapped around and pressed eagerly into his. Her blue eyes outshone all the stars within the scope above them. Two frames of blonde hair, willful and touchable, swept across those upturned eyes._

_Emerald green fingers curled quietly into a paler set as the evening darkened, shielding them._

_Beautiful was right._

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

Time… oh accused time...

If it could go backwards... all the memories he held dear to him would be relived whenever the quality fuzzed like television static. They would never be _lost_. People would never be forgotten, their striking features, the melody of how their voices rose and fell, every detail would mirror exactly how they were meant to be at that moment. But time disfigured... mauled memories and their attributes.

His memory faded... the green of last summer's grass... the exact smell of the sunrise... faces that were _lost_ faded. His thoughts weren't normally this multi-layered. but certain moments rose and he _remembered_. Just what it was like to transform into an animal the first time right down to insignificant pleasantry he may or may not have had…. with _her_.

Outside his daydream, someone called to him.

Time to come back to reality.

Blue-green eyes reopened from the welcome shade his eyelids provided to meet the sight of large, bottle-green boring holes back into him.

No longer impatient for his attention now on her, Starfire pulled her face out of his breathing space to smile cheerfully, the smile that promised understanding and laughter. "Friend Beast Boy, is this not the most beautiful creature you have ever set your eyes upon?" With an excited giggle that agitated the slope of her pretty shoulders, she opened her hands out to him to reveal a small, black speck. Vaguely, the thought occurred to him after staring for several seconds at where the sides of her hands cupped, that he was pretty sure that specks _don't_ move.

Two more seconds passed before Beast Boy nodded warily. "Yeah, um, that sure is a beautiful… spider."

Her eyes beamed lovingly at the fuzzy, eight-legged insect that decided to crawl up her forearm silently. She cooed sweet nothings, waving her fingertip at it in a greeting.

"Do you wish to hold him?"

He shook his head. "Think I'm gonna pass on the spider-petting today, Star."

As the young Tamaran native went on her merry way to show her new little friend to her other much bigger friends, Beast Boy had to admire her. While most girls were grossed out by bugs and spiders, Starfire had it in her heart to respect and cherish even the smallest of creatures living on this planet. Alright, mind you she was new to it, but the trait was… pleasant.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

_"Are you accident-prone or am I just too good looking to turn away from?"_

_The blonde girl threw a glob of mud at his head. Thankfully for him, her aim was crap. His boyish cackle filled their eardrums and she crossed her spaghetti-thin arms with infuriated intent in the pool of dirty water, too humiliated to stand up and have visible brown mud dry on her butt all day._

_Her pout was just too adorable to ignore._

_Still snickering, he took the back of his glove and wiped the edge of her cheek free of residue. Ultramarine blue gazed up indignantly, and with a quickness he couldn't have fathomed from the girl with terrible reaction time, he ended up face-first in a particularly slimy mess. After spitting out what tasted like mildewy seaweed, a satisfied laugh came from his mud-companion in the bay._

_"Not pleasant, is it?"_

_He gagged exaggeratedly. "What, the taste or not being warned ahead of time?"_

_She clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and responded, "Exactly."_

_.  
_

"Hey, Beast Boy."

Rattled, he jerked his head round at the mention of his name. Either his hearing was going or he needed to space cadet in privacy.

The leader of the Teen Titans, in all his tri-colored glory, approached him with a grave expression. "We have a bit of a problem."

"Cyborg can't fix the toilets?"

The corner of a black mask lifted, clearly the eyebrow underneath had caused the action, and Beast Boy answered it, sincerely, "Dude, you think I'm joking? The plumbing on the fifth floor sucks."

Robin waved a hand as if to dismiss that the subject was ever brought up.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, Starfire has made a new friend and it," he corrected himself with a bite of sarcasm worthy of Raven's standards, " _they_ , are creating a new nesting area inside our kitchen. I need to let her down easy, but-"

The changeling interrupted before his leader could go on, passing him in the open hallway, "I'm on it." If anyone could talk to her on her level, he knew he could. Luck must have been on his side because the alien girl had just exited the main entrance doors. Beast Boy jogged in advance to block her route, stepping in front of her. "Hey, Star... I kinda gotta talk to you about something."

Tiny, red eyebrows burrowed. She listened, nodding.

"Robin thinks…well, I think, too, that the spiders would be happier outside where they're supposed to be. You know, where they can eat? I think it's great and all that you're being so nice to them, but keeping them in the Tower wouldn't be good for them, you see..." He let out a weak laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, and triggering a fond resemblance in the girl's mind, "...plus, uh; I'd rather not be around when Raven finds something crawling in her teacup."

"You wish for me to get the ridding of them?"

As she acknowledged his request, Starfire began looking enormously disappointed. He hitched his shoulders almost to his pointy ears to express his sympathy, "Sorry, Star. I can help you if…"

Her amber mouth thinned.

"I can do it myself, Beast Boy, thank you."

Stray locks of auburn slapped him in the face as Starfire reentered the entrance, the metal door closing silently behind her. Except it was sound, crueler in his ears.

Somehow… the slaps strung more then they should have.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

_"Stings a little, huh?"_

_She simpered in his direction, gauze in one hand, and tape in the other. He rubbed his upper arm, fingers strumming over the threads of the white bandage, "A little."_

_Tightly, she inhaled. "I haven't even been on this team for a week and already I've gotten you hurt." A strand of yellow shadowed her scrunched-up, right eye. That eyes softened when green fingers tucked the yellow strand of hair behind her left ear._

_"Terra, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't control it."_

_She threw the items she had been holding viciously at the wall, crying out with self-loathing laced in and out of her yell, "I'm such a screw up! Why can't I do anything right! What is wrong with me?" Her voice broke at the final word. She kicked the underside of the coffee table in the lobby, stifling back what seemed to be a struggling moan. Her hands outlined threatening yellow._

_They returned to their original color when they latched onto the solid built reclining in one of the black chairs. He managed to open his arms apart in time for her to collapse into them, gasping apologies into his costume. Even at the offhand show of raw human emotion, he felt no less awkward than earlier that evening when he helped her out of an earth-shaking trance._

_"There's nothing wrong with you, Terra."_

_A disbelieving noise was made at this and he pulled her away from his embrace. Terra wiped her eyes dubiously. "I don't deserve your understanding. I'm not what you think I am, Beast Boy. I'm not perfect."_

_Blue-green eyes sparked fervor. "I don't care if you're perfect or flawed. I know you're not a screw up; you just need help. We can help you... Terra..."_

_She scowled faintly, leaving him feeling for the first time deeply hurt. "You can't help me, no one can," and climbed to her feet to retreat out of the lounge, nearly colliding into the resident alien. The redhead did a confused double take on the fleeing earthmover and the defeated boy._

_"Is our new friend not feeling well?"_

_"No… I don't think she is."_

_.  
_

Blood red felt like satin pressed together in his touch.

The thorny rose cradled in his hands was slowly beginning to wither from a glossy life and he watched as minutes, hours passed, each second ticking off another moment closer to where the plant would blacken and rot. For now it would stay lovely and colorful. How long can life sustain without its necessitates…?

"Forgive me."

Startled from his glum reverie, Beast Boy looked up to see a recognizable orange face strangely solemn. "I had almost forgotten today was the day."

 _Terra's day_.

He glanced back down at the rose expectantly, muttering lowly, "Tell me about it."

When she asked her next question, the changeling discovered that she had plopped down with her back to the opposite wall and eyed the titanium door behind him. "Why do you not venture inside?"

"Scared," he replied, honestly, "Painful memories? Been having them all day."

"I will venture inside with you if you so desire." Her previous frostiness returned to mind and Beast Boy narrowed his eyes at the Tamaranean.

"Why?"

Bottle green spoke volumes of unstated cognition.

"Because Terra was my friend too if I recall it clearly."

He felt like scratching his head. Maybe shaking it for good measure. She _really_ had everyone fooled with the naïve act. By now it wouldn't be considered naïve. He wondered how many people could see the real personality lurking beneath the surface of pudding recipes and persistent enthusiasm, the slightly crafty and astute girl underneath.

A sigh stemmed through his lips. "It's a good thing I remember the code."

They both stood up, one folding her arms in anticipation, and the other's digits indifferently working over the code pad. With a gentle _swish_ , the barrier disappeared into secluded darkness. It didn't take very long to find a light switch. He knew the room from the inside out. Decoration had been hell.

A faint, very faint, light swarmed over all corners of the spacious bedroom with wallpapered stars. At the mere sight of them, the rush of sudden empathy caused him to stumble back and a hand came up to clutch his chest as if he unconsciously wished to rip his heart out from his chest. If only to dispose the cloud of oncoming grief. Fortunately for them both, Starfire sensed this and placed each of her hands on an arm, holding him upright to keep him from falling to the ground. The muscles in them felt like rocks from his compression.

Unnoticed, the rose kissed the wiry texture of the carpet.

Hurriedly, the alien girl steered her friend out of the vacant bedroom and let go when a lime-green palm shot out to his forehead. Beast Boy mumbled under his breath, still moving forward, "I don't think I was ready for that." A kind hand took his instinctively, ceasing his stride.

"Do you require Cyborg's medical attention?"

"No…I-I just need a minute."

"Of this you are certain?" Half dazed, he glanced at Starfire who appeared genuinely troubled at his current state. Discomfiture came flooding back in a flush. What was wrong with him? Thirty seconds in the room and he almost swooned... Starfire had to lead him out like he was some kind of frail child.

"You didn't... feel anything?" Beast Boy asked, embarrassment dripping from his pitch.

"I was preoccupied of your reaction," she admitted. "I am sorry I suggested-"

" _Don't_. Don't apologize to me, I needed it." His thin chest fell with an exhale. "Somehow I needed to see it for myself."

Starfire twisted her hands. "Then... I am glad I could help," she murmured. Harsh silence built up between them. During it, the changeling observed her poise. Insecure... was that the word-like being within two feet of him made her more restless. That didn't seem right. Why would she be so uncomfortable around him?

They were friends. They joked and shared unadulterated periods of silliness and childish fancy. The scene changes to something more serious and it gets unpleasant. It felt similar to her rejection. It stung. He couldn't remember a time where he disliked being ignored from the very lovely eyes of the alien girl. Now it was becoming unbearable... he wanted her to notice him, maybe not like Raven, but Starfire possessed something.

Something familiar. But so very much like Starfire.

A green hand hesitantly tapped her, hoping to get her attention. "Hey... Star?"

"Yes, Friend?"

"Wanna go watch the monster movie marathon with me? Only two more hours until they start playing old sixty sitcoms…" Beast Boy trailed off purposely, expecting an excuse, something with the word _Robin_ in it, or worse, her joyful willing bogus façade to pop up, but not for an answer such as: "What will make it worthwhile, Friend?"

Even more unexpected then the beguile she enriched in her response, then the greater knowledge that he was the only one who got to see this side of her, was his reply back.

"You'll have to find out, friend."

 

 

 

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**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the encouragement: liar123 and Poison Tree.


End file.
